I'm not a newbie to growing or cloning but to a full on water system I am, I haven't grown for the last 7 or 8 years but now that I was able to get my medical MJ card I figured I give growing in a RDWC system a shot. We are allowed 6 plants in bloom and this is what I'm starting with and I'd like some opinions.....I have a 6pot-5gal bucket system w/40gal res with 2 raptor 8" hoods & 2 lumatek 1000w digital ballast running digilux HPS bulbs and a 8" hydrofarm fan and all the necessary things needed to make the system function-able...hosing,45L air pump, hydro stone..etc..etc. I been doing a lot of reading and I'm just looking to get any tips I can to help lessen anymore spending and maximize the use of the setup. I did place an order with Attitude and bought a few different strains of feminized seeds so I'll be able to clone some once I find the strain that suits me best.For nutrients I have the complete GH FloraNova series to run through it. 1)I got the whole setup for $1100. new did I get a deal or did I get ripped off? 2)Any suggestions as to things that I should keep an eye on in particular when setting it up? 3)How good of a setup is this..anything I should have to improve its yield? Any help or suggestions from you guys/ladies will be appreciated.
Ya, you got a good deal. Are growing in an apartment (check with landlord) or your own home? Are you growing in a tent or a room and is the room equipped to handle cooling heat, RH? Do you have an AC (with 2 1000's it will produce some heat). Do you have a chiller for the water temps? Do you have any pictures? If not take some as you are setting up and we can help you with the best placement of lights, control bucket and overall set up. I would definetly think about using Useless's formula for nute solution. http://forum.growkind.com/showthread.php?t=35174
Grow room is in my own house out in the country with the closest neighbor/house being about 100+ yards away. Its winter here in Maine and outside temps. will most likely not go above 40 degrees for the next 4 months so the 12'x14' room that I'll be setting up in I can keep anywhere from outside temps up to the optimum growing temp with ease. If anything I figure lack of heating for systems water will be more of an issue because it'll be set-up on a slab & sub-floor so some part(40gal Res) might need a heat mat connected to a digital thermostat of which I have a few extras kicking around. Useless's formula is for GH's Flora series and I have GH's FloraNova series so I have to find out what others have found good-luck with for a percentage mix with this series of their line. I figured if worse come to worse I could use their recommended amount at about 25% strength to start and monitor my way SLOWLY up to what it seems like the strain can handle and thrive. I also picked up one of those Nutradip tri-meters to help make my life easy I hope. Once I setup or most likely while setting up I'll post some photos and list my problems..lol..:BangHead:..the fun of another hobby coming on.
I too live in ME out in the sticks. :-welcome-::coolbounce: Put all the buckets and control bucket on the floor and you wont need a heating pad. As soon as the water starts circulating around the 2000 watts you would be surprised how much it heats up. If you can keep the control bucket outside the grow room for easy monitoring and change over can be done anytime. Trust me Useless's formula is one of the best. There is a lot of people using it and can vouch for it. Not trying to knock what you are going to do just telling you what works for me and many others. Plan ahead for summer when setting up your room, you will need a way to get rid of heat and RH to have good results.
Hey great to meet another Mainer....we're finally starting to catch up to the rest of the country which is a good thing in some instances(like MMJ). I do plan on asking a lot of questions even though I know it is a weed and does grow relatively easy there are more productive ways and those are what brought me to the forum. Grow stuff has gone computer age from what I can see and once I can get a basic formula I'm sure I can learn to take advantage of the Tri-Meter and tweak it to suit each strain. That Useless's formula would be good but like I said above I have GH's next generation formula, FloraNova way back in the day I used the 3 part Flora series with good success when the strain was worthy but my problem is I already bought just about the full regiment of the FloraNova series which is a 2 part formula(comes grow & bloom) and then you can add the normal supplements to it if you want..which I did buy(minus the supposed "flavor additives"). So any advice besides bringing it back Because I'd really like to try it instead of the 3 part Flora.
I used Flora Nova for a while. It's ok. You'll have much better results with less headaches if you go with the Useless Formula. Since switching over to the Useless formula, my plants practically grow themselves. I never have to adjust the pH and it's foolproof if you follow the formula. Flora Nova has a lot of solids in it and is thick. It will not be ideal in a RDWC system. It'll gunk up and clog lines and just be a general pain in the ass. The Useless Formula is way more balanced and the plants will be healthier and you'll yield more for you hard work and money invested.
I guess I got to decide what to do....my reluctance is that I already have the FloraNova series, 1 gal. of grow & 1 of bloom and the price of just 1 of the Nova is the price of all 3 of the Flora almost but if the difference is going to be that much better maybe I just ought to take it as a lesson learned. Another question I have is do I want my hoods cooling fan to PULL or PUSH the cooling air through them? Which way is most efficient? I want to thank you guys for your input it is very much appreciated.
Pull your air through. And believe me, go with the Useless formula. Why try to figure out a new nute regiment when one has been close to perfected? All the hard work has been done. For another $100 you can rock those plants.
Well system is assembled and waiting for clones. I want to thank you guys for the answers, I'll post some photos as soon as clones are in.
DO NOT USE FLORANOVA 2 PART IN ANY HYDROPONIC SYSTEM. The formula is cheap, easy, and absolutely great for soil, but in hydro it comes out of solution (precipitates) within a couple days whether you circulate the water or not. That causes massive salt buildup and improper nutrient uptake. You won't have that problem with the Flora series. Other than that, only suggestion I'd have would be to take the hoods off and run a VSOG (check FAQ, I believe). The usable light would cover MUCH more space with a greater intensity, and you have space to burn (If you don't mind vegging those babies a very long time). Also, the cost of heating would be reduced since 2 bare 1000 watt bulbs would significantly increase temps (but not even close to optimum temps given what you said they're at now.) Temps should also be easily manageable with that setup in the summer given how far north you are and the size of the space - would just require a box fan under each light. Looks like you've got the goods to get started in a big way! good luck learning hydro - it has a steep learning curve, but the results are well worth it. Oh, one more thing. It might be a good idea to raise all of the buckets and the res off the cold floors a bit. The buckets will affect water temps if they're on the ground same as the res, and it's a lot cheaper and easier to avoid a problem rather than buy more stuff and pay operating costs to fix it. If you do it that way you could just have a res heater instead of multiple heat mats for the individual buckets.
